Deanna Rosolen

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See below for photo gallery!

Waterloo Small Batch Brews
• Waterloo Brewing Co., the craft brewing division of Brick Brewing Co. Limited, unveiled the second in its line of seasonal craft beer mix packs. Waterloo Small Batch Brews feature two traditional brews – Waterloo Pilsner and IPA in this case – and one seasonal specialty beer. Making its debut in this second sampler is Jack Pine Belgian Ale, a specialty Saison brew with citrus and floral notes. Waterloo Brewing Co. Small Batch Brews are available for a limited time throughout the summer in Ontario at select LCBO and Beer Store locations.

Molson Canadian Cider
• Molson Canadian is venturing beyond beer. The company has launched Molson Canadian Cider. The launch marks the first time that Molson has offered a non-beer alternative since 1786. Molson Canadian Cider is made from high-quality ingredients, the company says, including apples that are 100 per cent Canadian grown. The cider is a traditional English style cider with a bold apple flavour, a balanced medium sweetness and medium acidity that is provided by the fruit. The result is a cider that is crisp, sharp, refreshing and finishes smooth. Molson Canadian Cider contains five per cent alcohol by volume, and comes in 341-mL bottles in a six-pack or 473-mL cans. It’s being sold in Ontario and Nova Scotia at the LCBO and NSLC.

Vented Cans• Molson Coors Canada has launched new Vented Cans. The Vented Can has a specially designed top with a distinctive red tab and a button-shape to the right of the can opening. The added vent is meant to give consumers a smoother pour. Consumers can activate the vent in three easy steps:

The company says the vent provides beer drinkers with an enhanced experience while keeping functionality and fun top of mind. The Vented Cans will be rolling out nationally in June on Tall Boy cans of Coors Light and Molson Canadian. This summer, the Vented Can will be on 50 million cans.

Rickard’s Shandy
• Rickard’s unveiled a new beverage in time for patio weather. It’s the Rickard’s Shandy, a beer made with lemonade and it launched in May. The company says the beer is subtly sweet and light in texture and offers a crisp refreshing taste. Brewed in Canada, Rickard’s Shandy is made with no preservatives or artificial ingredients and with the company’s crafted lemonade. Rickard’s Shandy contains 4.5 per cent alcohol by volume and is sold in two formats: a six-pack of 341-mL bottles, 473-mL cans or draught.
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• Moosehead Breweries has launched Boundary Ale. The company is describing it as a well-balanced beer that is slightly sweet with roasted and caramel malt complexity. It’s flavourful and aromatic with a medium body and smooth citrusy finish. The company spent more than a year experimenting with different ingredients before finding the right combination of hops and malts. Two American hop varieties, Cascade and Chinook, provide the slight citrus and floral bouquet. Two English hop varieties, UK Fuggle and East Kent Golding, give the beverage a subtle earthy, woody and herbal aroma. Boundary Ale will be available in draught in Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and P.E.I. and at select retailers in those provinces and the rest of Canada starting this September.

Baldwin FishEYE-PA
• The Kensington Brewing Company has launched Baldwin FishEYE-PA. The company says the brew was inspired by the fishmongers on Baldwin Street and is a bold hop-forward American IPA. FishEYE was brewed with the input of the company’s fans over a series of test batches in 2012. At 6.5 per cent alcohol by volume and 70IBU, FishEYE is geared to hop-loving beer enthusiasts. The brew is a blend of three types of malt and four hop varieties, including an extra dose of dry hops. The aroma is mainly floral and pine, with a slight tinge of grapefruit rind and sweet caramel malt. Baldwin FishEYE-PA is already in LCBO locations in Ontario. Each 473-mL tall-boy can will retail for $2.85 including tax and deposit.

Louis XIII Le Jeroboam
• The House of Rémy Martin has launched the sale of Louis XIII Le Jeroboam, the only bottle of its kind available for purchase in B.C. at the flagship liquor store. At $25,000, this limited edition cognac comes in a three-litre format and includes four Pillet crystal glasses, a Pillet shelf display, a pipette and a Louis XIII collector’s book. Only 100 carafes exist throughout the world.

Guinness Black Lager
• Guinness fans have another reason to rejoice: a new lager has arrived in Canada. Already in stores, Guinness Black Lager Beer promises a combination of roasted barley flavour with a crisp new approach. The makers say they used the finest hops, yeast and cold-filtered methods to create an original black lager. The new Guinness is bottled in 330-mL dark amber bottles and features a contemporary silver and blue label.

Innis & Gunn
• Innis & Gunn, a Scottish craft beer and brewing company, is releasing new products for spring and summer.
The Canadian Cherrywood Finish is the company’s fifth-annual, limited edition brew. The drink is a scotch ale aged over Canadian black cherrywood with maple syrup added post-maturation for a subtly sweet twist. B.C. artist Tatianna O’Donnell won a national competition to have her original oil painting, Forest Spectrum, featured on the limited edition carton. The brew is sold in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in 330-mL bottles from $4.95.
• Scottish Pale Ale is a fusion between historical sweet Scottish pale ales and the oakiness of a traditional IPA transported in oak barrels. Innis & Gunn added its own Ale Malt, which gives the beverage a maltiness with a vibrant hoppy character. The aroma of hop and banana gives way to a caramel sweetness, balanced with a light, creamy texture and some bitterness. The SPA was introduced in May in Alberta, B.C., New Brunswick, Ontario and Saskatchewan in 330-mL bottles from $3.25. SPA will be in Nova Scotia in July.

Melville
• Melville’s is a range of fruit beers in three flavours – Strawberry, Raspberry and Ginger Beer. The company uses ingredients uniquely sourced from the U.K. Based on a brewed lager made of 100 per cent malted barley, hops, yeast and water, the brews are then blended with Glen Ample raspberries, Jubilee strawberries or fresh stem ginger. All three flavours are sold in packs of four 275-mL bottles for $9.95.

Summer Mix 12-Packfrom Mill Street
• Mill Street Brewery has unveiled its brand new Summer Mix 12-Pack, featuring two limited edition seasonal beers. The company launched the new pack in stores in May in B.C., Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and P.E.I. The two new ales are: Mill Street Curious Parrot, which is a blonde ale inspired by the golden ales of Hawaii and brewed to five per cent alcohol by volume; and Don Valley Bench Estates, a chardonnay-like beer made with only malt, hops, yeast and water and with fruit and herbal flavours.

Amsterdam Brewery Framboise beer
• The Amsterdam Brewery re-released its Framboise beer in May. Framboise is brewed using an old world recipe that blends Belgian wheat malt with real Canadian raspberries. The company says 2.2 pounds of fresh raspberries go into making every 750-mL bottle. The brew has a ruby red colour and crisp fruit flavour. It’s only brewed once per year. Framboise is available for sale in 750-mL ceramic, swing-top bottles from LCBO stores in Ontario.

Amsterdam Brewery and Great Lakes Brewery
• The Amsterdam Brewery and Great Lakes Brewery released their award-winning collaboration beer in LCBO stores in April. Maverick & Gose is a Leipziger Gose Beer that has been aged in Ontario Chardonnay barrels for four months prior to packaging. A rare German brew of medieval origin, the beer has a mostly malted base, pink Himalayan salt and spices. It also has notes of lemon, herbs and a slight saltiness. Maverick & Gose is available in 500-mL bottles.

Macallan 1824 Series
• The Macallan is introducing The Macallan 1824 Series, a new range of single-mal whiskies to Canada. The Macallan 1824 Series includes four marques, Gold, Amber, Sienna and Ruby. The series was created by selecting whisky from a broad range of casks chosen specifically for the natural colour, nose and character they impart. The series is 100 per cent matured in sherry oak casks from Spain. The casks chosen for the series deliver a gradation of colour from light to dark, with the wood character defining each marque’s flavour, moving from lighter, lemon citrus notes to richer, dried fruit notes. The series also allows two of the brand’s six pillars, maturation in exceptional oak sherry casks and natural colour to act as primary indicators of character and style. The Macallan 1824 Series was available across Canada in mid-June.

Emiliana’s Adobe Reserva Merlot
• Emiliana’s Adobe Reserva Merlot is now available at the LCBO in Ontario, along with Adobe Reserva Sauvignon Blanc, a recent addition to the LCBO. The Merlot has a bright ruby red colour, a soft texture and fruity finish as well as a delicate wood influence on the palate. The wine pairs well with red meats, full-bodied fish such as salmon or tuna, ripe cheeses and all types of stews and salads. The Sauvignon Blanc has aromas of boxwood and herbs melded with lime and citrusy grapefruit notes. The wine is refreshing with balanced acidity and good volume. It pairs well with sushi and pastas with seafood sauces, as well as lean fish, chicken and salads.

Muskoka Summer Weiss
• Muskoka Summer Weiss, a seasonal German style wheat beer from Muskoka Brewery, offers a balance of wheat, barley and subtle hopping, making it a flavourful summer wheat beer. The brew was the Gold Award winner at the 2013 Ontario Brewing Awards for Best German Style Wheat Beer. And it won a Silver Award in 2011 in the Wheat Beer category at the Canadian Brewing Awards. The company says the vibrant aroma of banana and clove is what sets this wheat beer apart. It’s flexible enough to pair food and pairs well with guacamole, lobster and mid-day breakfast. The brew hit LCBO and Beer Stores in Ontario in May. It’s available in packs of six 355-mL bottles for $13.50.

Filipino recipe mixes
• Interest in Filipino cuisine is on the rise, with bloggers reporting it will be the next big ethnic food to hit the mainstream palate. So McCormick Canada launched 11 Filipino recipe mixes, which make it easier for consumers and Filipinos to show off their cooking skills. The mixes hit grocery retailers in Toronto and Vancouver in June. The mixes include:
• Adobo mixes, which come in Classic, sa Pula and sa Puti. Adobo makes use of pork or chicken slowly cooked in vinegar, garlic, bay leaf, peppercorns and soy sauce.
• Sinigang mixes, which come in Classic, Lemongrass and Rosemary and Chili.
Sinigang is a traditional soup characterized by its sour flavour associated with tamarind.

Barbecue sauces
• And just in time for barbecue season, McCormick Canada also launched a new line of barbecue sauces under the Club House La Grille brand. The new products include Montreal Steak Spice BBQ Sauce, Montreal Chicken BBQ Sauce, Wild Whiskey Smoked BBQ Sauce, and Vintage Smokehouse with Honey BBQ Sauce. The flavours are based on the company’s top-selling Club House La Grille products and on the Wild Whiskey Smoked BBQ Limited Edition flavour from 2011. The new sauces will retail for about $2.99 per bottle.

Canton’s new carton
• When it comes to food packaging, the outside does count, too. Lassonde Specialties found that consumers in the U.S. are more aware of food packaging. It’s not just about packaging as a protective container and handy shipping unit for food. Foods in convenient portion sizes, in packaging made from eco-friendly materials derived from renewable sources are now more in demand. So the company announced a big move. Lassonde’s Canton brand fondue bouillons and traditional canned classics will be offered in carton packs. The ready-to-serve bouillons in combibloc Standard 1,100 mL come in Beef/Onion, Original, Oriental Delight, Red Wine and Thai varieties. To make them easy to open, the cartons feature a V perforation. More products are set to follow.

Jelly Belly Candy Company
• The jelly bean manufacturer Jelly Belly Candy Company has introduced a line of gifts for a variety of special occasions. Disney characters, including Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy are featured on two new special edition gift bags of Jelly Belly jelly beans: 80-g peg Grab & Go bags and 200-g shimmering stand-up gift bags. The Jelly Belly jelly beans inside complement the corresponding character in colour, and a writeable space on the bags gives the gift-fiver room to personalize the gift. Each Disney bag has its own special seven-flavour mix of jelly beans. The Disney-themed packages will ship to Canadian retailers this summer.

Grace Kennedy’s Coconut Sugar
• Coconut Sugar is nothing new in the tropics. But there’s a new brand here in Canada from GraceKennedy (Ontario) Inc. The company says coconut sugar is a natural sweetener made from 100 per cent fresh, nutrient-rich sap collected from tender coconut flower buds. It also offers low-glycemic qualities and a high-nutrient profile, which makes the sugar popular and ideal for sweetening tea or coffee or even used in baking. It’s also used because of its one-to-one ratio with cane or brown sugar. It also has zero cholesterol, no artificial colours or flavours and it’s gluten-free. It also doesn’t have an overpowering coconut taste. Its flavour profile is close to rich brown sugar with a hint of butterscotch and caramel.

Honibe Honey Delights• Island Abbey Foods Ltd. launched a new line of Honibe Honey Delights, a tasty candy made with pure dried honey. The new line of Honibe Honey Delights offers consumers a healthy alternative to refined sugar. Honibe Honey Delights are made with 100 per cent pure honey and are only 10 calories per 2.6-g piece and contain honey’s natural properties. The honey candies come in new flow wrap individual piece in a 20-count retail bag format, or bags of 20 pieces in bulk cases or in jars for foodservice. The company says that honey is proven to contain anti-bacterial and anti-microbial properties, as well as antioxidants and nutrients. It’s also an alternative for diabetics and for people on low or restricted carbohydrate diets as honey is rated lower on the glycemic index than refined sugars.

Zevia sodas
• Zevia has introduced three zero-calorie, all-natural, soda flavours. Cherry Cola, Dr. Zevia and Caffeine Free Cola join eight other flavours in Canada. The Zevia sodas are sweetened with stevia, a South American plant that does not affect blood glucose levels or contain calories. The new flavours are 100 per cent natural formulas that are vegan, Kosher and gluten-free. The three new flavours will be available in a variety of mainstream, natural and specialty retailers across Canada.

Reunion Island Coffee’s loose leaf teas
• Reunion Island Coffee has introduced a line of loose leaf teas in April called Benchmark. The Benchmark line includes traditional teas along with more unique tastes like Jasmine Pearl, Lemon Oolong and Sweet Hibiscus. The line also offers Organic English Breakfast, Organic Vanilla Rooibos Herbal, Organic Earl Grey, Organic Lavender Green, Organic Chai, Gunpowder Green and Peppermint Herbal. The teas are being offered to the company’s current customers such as cafés and restaurants. And they’re also available on the company’s website ReunionIslandCoffee.com.

LifeIce bite-size frozen cubes
• An all-natural frozen treat has entered the market and it’s being billed as an alternative to traditional frozen treats. LifeIce Bite-Sized Ices or cubettes are 100 per cent natural, low in calories and sugars, gluten-free, Kosher, GMO-free and without preservatives. LifeIce’s patent-pending freeze and eat delivery system also allows these bite-size ices to be sold shelf stable at room temperature in liquid form and in custom-engineered trays that carry a one-year Best if Frozen By shelf life. The cubettes are also formulated with nutrients and vitamins found naturally in the ingredients. There are four flavours: CitrusChomp, BerryBite, Green Grind and Chocolate Crisp. Each flavour begins with a base of coconut water and agave, which is then blended with mangosteen, yumberry, green tea extract and cherry, ginger, blueberry, kale and currants. LifeIce has a suggested retail price of $6.99.

Deep ‘n Delicious cakes
• McCain Foods has revamped its Deep ‘n Delicious cakes. The cakes are now made with better ingredients as part of the company’s It’s All Good initiative. The company has re-launched the Chocolate, Marble and Vanilla flavours and has unveiled two new cakes: Carrot and Apple Caramel, which are made with real cream cheese icing. This summer McCain is also launching three new Deep ‘n Delicious cream pies: Cookies & Cream, Double Chocolate and Coconut Cream. The pies and cakes are available at major grocery store chains across Canada and will retail for $4.99 to $5.99 each. The company has also recruited Tori Spelling, author, reality TV star and mom of four to celebrate the launch.

Sol Cuisine’s meatless burgers
• Sol Cuisine has added burgers to its line up that have a South Asian and South American flair. Indian Masala burgers and Sprouted Quinoa Chia burgers are the new soy-free, frozen and meatless products available at retail stores across North America. The Indian Masala burger takes its inspiration from Aloo Tikki, a North Indian street food. Aloo Tikki potato-pea patties are spiced with a Masala blend including turmeric, green chili and ginger, and can be served in a sandwich, as an appetizer with chutney or as a meal with greens, legumes or starch. The Sol Cuisine Indian Masala burger has 80 calories, two grams of fat, two grams of protein per serving. It’s also available in foodservice format. The Sprouted Quinoa Chia burger includes organic and sprouted quinoa, black chia and sweet potato. The burger has a crunch and can be enjoyed on a bun or incorporated into a stir-fry or salad. The burger has 120 calories, four grams of fat, and three grams of protein per serving. It’s also available in sliders and foodservice format.